Small as an Elephant by Jennifer Richard Jacobson

Ever since Jack can remember, his mom has been unpredictable, sometimes loving and fun, other times caught in a whirlwind of energy and "spinning" wildly until it's over. But Jack never thought his mom would take off during the night and leave him at a campground in Acadia National Park, with no way to reach her and barely enough money for food. Any other kid would report his mom gone, but Jack knows by now that he needs to figure things out for himself - starting with how to get from the backwoods of Maine to his home in Boston before Social Services catches on. With nothing but a small toy elephant to keep him company, Jack begins the long journey south, a journey that will test his wits and his loyalties - and his trust that he may be part of a larger herd after all.


This is a quick read that's intense and emotional. Jack wakes up in his tent with his mom gone. He has only $14, no food, no supplies, no help. He doesn't feel like he can go to an adult and ask for help because they would find out about his mom's illness and take him away from her. So, he tries to figure things out on his own. But, as you can imagine, he kind of makes a mess out of it.  Can you imagine being an 11 year-old and having to deal with this type of situation? Can you imagine doing this to a child, your own child? These are the questions that I thought about as I read the book.


This is one of those books that I think is thought-provoking for an adult, but am always curious if it will appeal to children. I'll have to wait and see...

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Oh, this is such a good story- sad, but good. Ivan is a gorilla who was captured as a baby and raised by humans. He lives alone in his domain (cage) in a mall. He is easy going and has come to accept his life at the mall, until a baby elephant is purchased to bring in more customers. Ivan decides the elephant should have a different life and does something about it.

The story is told from his perspective. It's so sweet and touching. It's meant to open the reader's eyes to how humans treat animals and it does so in a very powerful way, I think.

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

Wonderstruck is the follow-up to Brian Selznick's Caldecott Medal winning book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. The illustrations in that book were AMAZING and the illustrations in Wonderstruck are equally AMAZING and there are about 100 pages more of them!

There are alternating stories being told, one in text and one in the illustrations, and they end up coming together at the end. I enjoyed this book. It was touching, moving and sad, but I liked it's simplicity and honesty in dealing with real-world problems, relationships and feelings.

And the illustrations, of course, are AMAZING!

Summary:
Ben and Rose secretly wish their lives were different. Ben longs for the father he has never known. Rose dreams of a mysterious actress whose life she chronicles in a scrapbook. When Ben discovers a puzzling clue in his mother's room and Rose reads an enticing headline in the newspaper, both children set out alone on desperate quests to find what they are missing.

Set fifty years apart, these two independent stories--Ben's told in words, Rose's in pictures--weave back and forth with mesmerizing symmetry. How they unfold and ultimately intertwine will surprise you, challenge you, and leave you breathless with wonder.